October 14, 2016
Our second day in Sweden began exploring, Paul’s friend, Constantine’s hometown of Borås, where we had a lovely lunch and visited the oldest building in the town, the Caroli church. Most visitors do not get to go up to the bell tower, but since our host’s family is active in the church we were given a bit of a private tour.
It was quite an experience and definitely not fit for those fearful of heights. Since this part of the church does not get many visitors, there are not many safety measures or rails. Getting up to the outside part of the tower required climbing a fairly steep staircase/ladder and then hoisting yourself through the hatch to the roof. Then there is only a standard wrought iron rail between you and an unfortunate fall. {Or at least that’s how it felt.}
It was both exhilarating and a bit unnerving.
The part that I found frightening was getting back inside. Being vertically challenged {short}, my little legs don’t have much reach. Therefore, getting back in through the hatch and getting a decent footing was a small feat. Obviously, I’m writing this, so we know I made it without injury, but I can say I don’t need to do it again. Paul and Constantine had no issue with this.
The rest of the day was spent in Gothenburg. The weather, which I’ve been told is typical for Sweden, was bi-polar. One moment it was raining buckets and attacking from all possible angles, and the next it was 10 degrees warmer and partly sunny.
As any smart person would do when there is a downpour threatening to drench you, we popped into Café Husaren to indulge in pastries the size of our heads.
When it looked safe enough to keep exploring, we ventured to one of my favorite places to visit in any city… the botanical garden. 🙂
Luck was with us and it remained partly cloudy for our entire stroll through outside portion of the gardens.
Caught these two little girls admiring the lily pond. Reminds me of my cousin and I as little girls.
